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Chrissie

Strictly Window Shopping

Shopping Day today. Choice of venue: Birmingham. I rather like doing this on a Thursday, and thankfully, my sexy government fandango being on temporary hiatus meant nothing cramped my style. 😉

In Waterstone’s, I spotted This is Orson Welles. This is a collection of interviews Peter Bogdanovich conducted with the great man, plus extracts from the Touch of Evil memo, etc. I almost bought it. I mean, it’s just too good! But the price tag prevented me (£16.50). Anyone feeling generous? 🙂 I should compile an Amazon Wish List.

Strictly Window Shopping
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It’s All Good Fun

Yes, I’m still here. Interesting (if absurd) developments on the New Deal front. The manager of the course told me she agrees that it’s not really appropriate for me at the present time… but, there’s no way out of it bar getting a job or foregoing your benefit. In fact, once you’re on ND, you’re stuck on it, or something similar, until you find work—if you’ve failed to do so after the 13-week duration, you’re put onto something else… and so on, and so on, ad nauseum.

Anyway, the only other option is to go on the sick. In my case, if my GP was agreeable, it would be for stress. Yep, that’s right: stress these people have caused. You’re either sick or your life revolves around finding a job. No other options, screw individual circumstances, end of story.
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Eh Bien, Mon Ami

Video purchase this week: the ABC Murders episode of Poirot, with David Suchet. This one was made in 1992 and, as far as I can remember, was particularly good. (They’re all good, though. Suchet is wonderful.) Anyway, we’ll be watching it later tonight.

This gives me a reason for mentioning the recent news story about the forthcoming Poirot episodes… four to be filmed this year, the first commencing later this month (Five Little Pigs). Rumour has it that Gwyneth Paltrow will appear in Death on the Nile. Suchet still hopes to film all of the original stories! (total so far: 49.)
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Popularity Contest

Got my ‘official’ letter giving the starting day of my ‘Work Experience Provision’ course today. Next Monday it is.

It says: ‘We would be grateful if you could arrive ten minutes early, due to the popularity of this training opportunity, we cannot guarantee your place if you arrive late.’ Notwithstanding the lousy punctuation (there should be a period after ‘early’), the idea of a course which is mandatory—if you’ve been unemployed for 18 months, you get shoved on this or lose your benefit—being ‘popular’ is absolutely hysterical.
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Don’t Make Me Angry, Etc.

Don’t Make Me Angry, Etc.

Well, I’m tempted to go and see it. We just watched a documentary about it on Five, which was fairly interesting. Oh, that green guy above? It’s Hulk. I bet you didn’t know that.

I have mixed feelings about the CGI. In order to make a creature that even vaguely resembles the comic book version, special effects are obviously necessary. From the scenes I’ve seen, it looks incredibly good in parts—but not so good in others. You know, I think the colour is partly the problem. The CGI Hulk looks best in scenes where there’s a lot of shadowing and the colour is subdued… but where the lighting is strong, it’s just too vivid. That shade can work in the comics, but it adds to the unreality of things on film. I think I might have gone for a more olive shade of green.
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The Intershit is Net

Just about everyone has linked to it by now, so I might as well do it too: The Internet is Shit.

The trouble with this site is that it’s also shit. It’s eleven pages of brief soundbites in humongous type. Maybe there’s some subtle irony in this, but it’s kinda wasted. In other words, bah, humbug, I’m the 37,000th person to give this poorly-made bilge free publicity!
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If Memory Serves

Last night’s viewing: a rather strange film from 2000 titled Memento, starring Guy Pearce. I won’t give any spoilers if you’ve not seen it: read on without fear.

Pearce plays a guy who has lost his short-term memory and is looking for the person who raped and killed his wife. Simple premise, but… the film has a totally non-linear narrative. Initially, I felt it was going to be an irredeemable pain in the backside. By the halfway stage, the reasons for this technique start to become much clearer. The ending is terrifically well done. No, really, this one genuinely surprises.
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Gregory Peck in Court

By the way, we watched the Hitchcock courtroom drama The Paradine Case (1947), starring Gregory Peck, last night. We’d taped it off BBC2 on Monday afternoon.

It couldn’t be called the best work from either Hitch or Peck (some of the melodrama is rather overacted), but it has a strong cast and was worth seeing again. Mr. Peck was 30 years old at the time and wears a few dashes of grey in his hair for added maturity! Although he’s supposed to be English, he doesn’t try to fake the accent, which somehow works in his favour. The actual courtroom scenes are the best moments (Charles Laughton is terrific as the judge). Trivia: it was the Hollywood debut for both Alida Valli and Louis Jourdan.
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